Turtles in the garden — Calm, long-lived creatures fit in well with greenery

Dana and Chris Lovelace's suburban home in Village Park,
Encinitas, looks like any other in the neighborhood, with lush
foliage along the walk leading to the front door, and clay and
cement animal figures dotting the greenery. In the backyard,
scattered between raised beds of growing vegetables, dahlias and
sunflowers, are garden objets d'art. But here, some of them
move.

Lovelace estimates that like her family, at least several
hundred North County homeowners keep pet tortoises in their
backyard gardens. "A lot of people have them in back, but you just
don't know it. And even more don't even know they can have them
outside," said the longtime member of the San Diego Turtle and
Tortoise Society, which hosts its annual show in Balboa Park this
weekend. "We are starting to think we have more California desert
tortoises in captivity than in the wild."

Giving a good home to a turtle or a tortoise is one great way to
incorporate wildlife into a garden and can be more fulfilling and
enjoyable than the simple carp or parakeet. They require very
little maintenance -- some hibernate half the year -- and they
won't bark, shed or peck the fruit of your trees, either.

"I haven't mowed my lawn in years -- they are organic
fertilizers and lawn mowers all in one," said Dana's husband Chris.
"But the best part is having kids over. They just love them."

Lovelace has a California desert tortoise named Raphael as well
as three leopard tortoises and a colony of box turtles. She is
tending a dozen or so others until they can be adopted through the
society to a good home.

Quiet and rather solitary creatures, the tortoises come out onto
the lawn if it looks like there is a possibility Dana will throw an
apple or a leaf or two of kale there. Sometimes at the end of the
day, she said, a couple of them will come up to the sliding glass
door to wait for dinner. Tortoises are vegetarians and love almost
everything from the garden -- dandelions, all sorts of fruits, and
their favorite, rose petals.

"They can see colors," she warns, "so they can nibble your toes
if you have sandals on and bright red nail polish."

In addition to keeping landscape greenery well-trimmed,
tortoises make terrific pets, said Lynn Mohns of Del Mar. "I don't
garden," said Mohns, who also belongs to the society. "I hate
plants and they hate me, but the neat thing about people who garden
is that the tortoise will hang out with you when you're weeding.
They will sit next to you (even if it is just to get food). It's
like having a little pet dinosaur," she said.

Dana Lovelace's love affair with tortoises began when she was 6.
Her grandfather, who managed a golf course, brought home Gordo, a
female desert tortoise whom he had found on the golf course.
Lovelace kept her as a pet for 46 years.

"Gordo went to school in third grade with me and with my sons,
too," she said; her sons, Blake and Byron, are now 27 and 23.
"There wasn't anything to read about them back then," she
added.

When she returned to San Diego after college, she joined the
Turtle and Tortoise Society, which was just forming, to learn more
about her pet.

Gordo passed on four years ago, Dana said. "It's a sad story. I
brought in some tortoises who had herpes into the population and
she died -- otherwise, she would still be here. She was in my life
for many years."

Many tortoises outlive their owners; it is not uncommon for them
to live 100 years. One of the Lovelaces' wards, Tallulah, was found
crossing the street in Rancho Santa Fe.

"They all come with wonderful stories," Dana said. "People cry
when they have to give them up. They are so persistent; they can be
reassuring to people with cancer or those who are old."

The society gets many of its orphans "from people who are
elderly and had to move or die, and the tortoise is still going
strong," Mohns said. "There was a man who was 96 and taken into the
hospital. He told his attorney to look in a certain drawer in his
garage. That's how we got Roxy. The man had been given Roxy when he
(the man) was 20, and she wasn't a hatchling then."

Mohns, 64, has three tortoises and a core group of box turtles
in her backyard. "Dana is my tortoise guru," she said of Lovelace.
"When I got my first, I called her all the time. And then 15
minutes later, I would call again. 'Now, Lynn,' she would say,
'that's normal. It will be fine.' But it's nerve-wracking at first.
After all, it is alive."

Mohns said she was first drawn to tortoises and turtles when she
went to a talk years ago at the Helen Woodward Center in Rancho
Santa Fe and adopted one. Now, she helps the society adopt out
hundreds each year.

"When I was growing up, we could buy those little turtles in the
dime store and paint their shells. My mother would let me get one
every once in a while -- you know, the ones in the plastic box with
the plastic palm tree. They gave you dried bugs with it. But they
don't eat dried dead bugs, so many little turtles lived and went at
my house. Now, I feel like I am doing penance for all of those
little suckers I killed."

California tortoises are endangered and cannot be sold or taken
from the wild, Mohn said, and she had few kind words for pet stores
that sell turtles and other tortoises. "They sell these animals,
and then they sell you the big aquarium or a terrarium, and it is
basically a death sentence to a turtle or a tortoise," she said.
"That may be extreme, but it is bad for them. They need the
sunlight to create vitamin D in their bodies. They are outdoor
pets, but you do need to protect them from predators and such.
There is more to it than getting 'a rock with legs.'"

Lovelace and Mohns said the Turtle and Tortoise Society is
particular about homes for their beloved orphans. "What we are
looking for is an area for grazing, and no swimming pools or lots
of poisonous plants -- though they are pretty sharp about poisonous
plants," said Lovelace. "We want people to feed them naturally,
with no pesticides. And a safe perimeter. They can see through a
chain link fence and get caught in it."

Rancho Santa Fe resident Loren Nancarrow and his wife, Susie,
learned that lesson the hard way with Speedy, their African spurred
tortoise, he wrote in an e-mail.

"At our previous home, Speedy had a beautiful and expansive rock
walled enclosure complete with heated rock igloo for cold nights.
She was able to munch on Bermuda grass and eat hibiscus flowers to
her heart's content. On hot days she was able to wallow in a
shallow mud depression where she flipped the mud onto her back.

"At the new house, I made the mistake of placing Speedy in a
wire enclosure until her new compound could be built. It was a
mistake too many tortoise keepers made. They are strong animals and
when they see the horizon, they head for it and little can be done
to stop them."

Keeping certain ground rules like that in mind, incorporating
turtles and tortoises into the garden can be easy and fun and
educational.

"Turtles, tortoises and gardens complement each other
enormously," Mohns said. "They really are wonderful creatures. Just
when you think you couldn't find another one you could love more,
some 'hunk of burning love' comes in and you fall in love all over
again."

WITH: Native and exotic species on display. No animals sold, but
plants, baked goods, refreshments, T-shirts and other items for
sale.

CALL: (619) 593-2123 or visit www.sdturtle.org

Making your garden hospitable to a California desert
tortoise in San Diego

Diet: 90 percent pasture or law grasses, flowers (roses,
hibiscus, nasturtium, etc), weeds, green leaves and succulents.
Tortoises normally graze on scrub vegetation in the desert. A
similar diet allowing the tortoise to graze on lawn grasses is
healthiest. The diet can be supplemented with vegetables and
occasional fruits. Powdered calcium is an important addition. Avoid
foods which negatively affect calcium intake, such as spinach,
cabbage, peas, and sprouts. Tortoises soak in and drink water when
it rains in the desert. A large shallow water dish for your
tortoise should be provided.

Enclosure: An escape-proof, solid fence that does not allow the
tortoise to dig under, see through or climb out. There should be a
barrier across the bottom 18 inches of any gate to prevent escape
when the gate is open. The area should be large and well planted
with grass, weeds, native bushes and nonpoisonous plants. The
tortoise needs access to shelter and shade, as well as a place to
bask in the sun.

Shelter: It is too humid in our area for tortoises to be allowed
to dig burrows for shelter, as they do in the wild. Exposure to
dampness will eventually make them ill. An outside house is
recommended, such as a dog house, where the tortoise can come and
go at will. The house can be heated, or a 25 watt bulb could be
left on to burn out any humidity. Another option is to bring the
tortoise inside each evening and take it out each morning.

Safety: Tortoises should have no access to swimming pools, spas
or ponds. They need protection from raccoons, ravens and other
animals. Dogs can severely injure tortoises. Other hazards include
poisonous plants, stairs, equipment and unsafe storage areas.

Adoptions: California desert tortoises are a threatened species
in the wild. It is illegal to own one without a permit or to return
one to the wild. The San Diego Turtle and Tortoise Society has
desert tortoises available for adoption to homes which can meet the
requirements listed above.

Commitment: Tortoises can live well beyond 100 years. If you
adopt a tortoise, you need to make arrangements to return the
tortoise to the Society if you move out of the area or cannot
continue to care for the tortoise.

Source: The San Diego Turtle and Tortoise Society, (619)
593-2123 or www.sdturtle.org